Export payment and repatriation process for Indian exporters- New Amendment by RBI

Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) vide Notification No. FEMA 10(R)(5)/2025-RB, had introduced “Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a person resident in India) Regulations, 2015” (“Amendment Regulations”) under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (“FEMA”) to simplify the financial processes of exporters and facilitate smoother international trade operations.

With the enactment of the above stated Amendment Regulations, RBI has inserted new sub-regulation (CA) under the Regulation 5 of Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a person resident in India) Regulations, 2000. The details of the new sub-regulation are as follows:

• Exporters (Indian residents) are now allowed to open and maintain a Foreign Currency Account with a bank outside India.
• The purpose of the account is to receive the full payment for their exports and to deposit advance payments received for goods or services exported.
• The funds can be used to pay for imports into India. Any remaining funds must be sent back (repatriated) to India by the end of the following month after receiving them, adjusted for any forward commitments.

The extract of the new sub-regulation is given below:

1. A person resident in India, being an exporter, may open, hold and maintain a Foreign Currency Account with a bank outside India, for realisation of full export value and advance remittance received by the exporter towards export of goods or services. Funds in this account may be utilised by the exporter for paying for its imports into India or repatriated into India within a period not exceeding the end of the next month from the date of receipt of the funds after adjusting for forward commitments, provided that the realisation and repatriation requirements as specified in Regulation 9 of Foreign Exchange Management (Export of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2015 are also met.”

The above stated notification would be effective from upon publication of the same in the Official Gazette.

Source:

Reserve Bank of India, Notification No. FEMA 10(R)(5)/2025-RB dated 14^th January 2025.